They are more rare than they are spooky-looking. It is thought that a mere dozen of their kind survive -- out of a total population of 5 million alligators in the United States.

Their story begins in a Louisiana swamp and brings with it a legend of good fortune for folks who can make eye contact.

In 1987, a fisherman discovered a nest of gator hatchlings -- 17 of which were ivory white, not the usual dark skin tone. Their chances for survival in the wild were slim because alligators' coloring camouflages them from predators. White gators would be easy pickings. They were taken to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.

These weren't the more common pink-eyed albino gators but the variety called leucistic, which refers to a genetic defect.

"Albinism is a complete lack of pigment through the skin of the animal," said Steve Stiegler, an alligator biologist at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, based in Tallahassee. Leucistics sport some pigment and have blue eyes.

Otherwise, they blend with the rest of the gator population.

"They're alligators -- they're just a different color," said Mike Hileman, Gatorland director of entertainment and adventure tours. "They have temperaments. Some of them have good attitudes; some of them have bad attitudes; and it changes day in and day out."

At Gatorland, the four brothers have individual bachelor pads in a structure called the White Gator Swamp. Each cube features a dock, a water area and a mural depicting a Cajun scene. Glass separates them from visitors.

"We try to capture the feel of a nice swamp in here with the cypress logs all around and natural palm trees growing up through the middle and vegetation to kind of create that impact," said Mark McHugh, president and chief executive officer of Gatorland.

There's no direct sunlight. Prolonged exposure to ultraviolet rays would lead to dangerous sunburn and infection for the white alligators.

Three of them have been given Creole names -- Bouya Blan (meaning white fog), Feros Zonbi (fierce ghost) and Jeyan Kwok (giant fang). The fourth will be named through a Gatorland contest.

Officials will exhibit the foursome through Labor Day. They plan to breed the white gators with female gators that have normal coloring and the recessive gene.

"They do it with many other (leucistic) reptiles like snakes and lizards and so forth," said Israel Dupont, owner of Crocodopolis, a business that specializes in education and entertainment with crocodilians. "It will be interesting to see what happens there."

Louisiana legend has it that humans who stare into these alligators' baby blues will receive good fortune.

Be patient.

"I'm still waiting," Hileman said. "I've been staring for weeks."

If you go GATORLAND

The attraction is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $22.99 for ages 13 and older, $14.99 for ages 3 to 12.

Call 1-800-393-5297 or visit www.gatorland.com.

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